VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Doan Thi Huong Giang

INFLUENCED FACTORS ON HANOI CONSUMER’S SATISFACTION
FOR FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

Hanoi – 2010


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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Doan Thi Huong Giang

INFLUENCED FACTORS ON HANOI CONSUMER’S SATISFACTION
FOR FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE

Major: Business Administration
Code: 60 34 05

1.2. Theories of consumer’s satisfaction interpretations............................................. 9
1.2.1. Psychological interpretation ............................................................................ 10
1.2.2. Economic interpretations................................................................................. 16
1.2.3. Sociological interpretation .............................................................................. 22
1.3. Discussion of related research

25

Chapter 2: Research model and Hypothesis ................................................................. 30
2.1. Research model.................................................................................................... 30
2.2. Description of factors in the model ..................................................................... 32
2.2.1. Media ............................................................................................................. 32
2.2.2. Product’s quality ............................................................................................. 35
2.2.3. Product’s price ................................................................................................ 38

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2.2.4. Product’s label ................................................................................................ 42
2.2.5. Compliance level of food safety and hygiene .................................................. 44
2.3.


Figure 1.2: Interpretations of consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction ......................12
Figure 1.3: Consumer surplus..................................................................................18
Figure 1.4: Hypothetical utility curves ....................................................................21
Figure 1.5: Classification of consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction research.............26
Figure 2.1: The structural model of influenced factors on consumer’s satisfaction on
food safety and hygiene...........................................................................................32
Figure 2.2: Pricing strategies matrix........................................................................39
Figure 4.1: Gender in Dr. Thanh and Chinsu sauce survey samples .........................63
Figure 4.2: Frequency of using products in the recent two surveys ..........................67
Figure 4.3: Willingness to introduce products to others ...........................................68
Figure 4.4: Satisfaction level of respondents with Chinsu sauce product .................72
Figure 4.5: Satisfaction level of respondents with Dr. Thanh product ......................76
Figure 4.6: The importance of influenced factors in Dr. Thanh survey.....................77
Figure 4.7: The importance of influenced factors in Chinsu survey .........................78
Figure 4.8: Respondents' satisfaction regarding food safety and hygiene by
influenced factors in Dr. Thanh survey ....................................................................80
Figure 4.9: Respondents' satisfaction regarding food safety and hygiene by
influenced factors in Chinsu survey.........................................................................81

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smaller due to urbanization. Therefore, food consumption situation becomes
more complex and hard to control.
Nowadays, many cases of un-safety and in-hygiene food have been
revealed and punished by food management authorities including Ministry of
Health, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
development. As the result, Hanoi consumer’s satisfaction has been affected
and their confidence in food safety and hygiene has been being lost.
However, there are still some foods brands that take care of consumers’
health and commit to provide only safe and qualified products would be
awarded consumers’ trust.
In such context, I decide to choose the topic: “Influenced factors on
Hanoi consumer’s satisfaction for food safety and hygiene”, to identify key
factors influencing consumer’s satisfaction and to propose solutions for
marketers in enhancing Hanoi consumer’s satisfaction with food industry.

2. Research Objectives
 Study definition and theory of consumer’s satisfaction
 Study factors influencing consumer’s satisfaction in Hanoi
regarding food safety and hygiene

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regarding food safety and hygiene will be proposed, based on the research
conduction and analysis.

5. Research methodology
Thesis is used methodology of researching the secondary data, primary
data; conducting qualitative (by interviewing respondents in Hanoi ) and
quantitative by survey regarding their opinions about factors affecting their
satisfaction for food safety and hygiene, focusing two selected products as
research objects.

6. Limitations
 The first limit of this thesis is the scope of work, which focuses
on only two products, not covering all kind of foods in the
market.
 The second one is the research methodology using quantitative
by survey, with limited observations in the sample. Due to
limited time and budget, the author only conduct the survey in
small scale of approximately 200 observations each survey,
which target to sample of officers, students, housewives, etc. 189
respondents joined Dr. Thanh survey and 198 respondents joined
Chinsu sauce survey. Therefore, the result will be relatively
precisely estimated.

7. Contributions of the research
This thesis presents the updated theory of consumer’s satisfaction. This
theory is good references for researchers, marketers, and leaders for their
business.
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explored. The literature dealing with the conceptualization of consumer’s
satisfaction/dissatisfaction is surveyed, followed by a discussion of research
investigating factors influencing consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction.
Based

on

the

survey

of

the

literature

on

consumer’s

satisfaction/dissatisfaction, a structural model of consumer’s satisfaction and
4


Chinese cultural value is proposed. Chapter 2 contains the main theoretical
part of the work. With respect to each theoretical part of the work, with
respect to each theoretical dimension of Chinese cultural values, potential
marketing implications are presented. Each component of the model as well
as related hypotheses are presented and discussed.

In order to reach a satisfactory definition of consumer’s satisfaction, it
is necessary to distinguish between consumer’s satisfaction and attitude.
There are quite a number of definitions of the term “consumer’s satisfaction”;
amongst the earliest, Howard and Sheth (1969) define consumer’s
satisfaction as “the buyer’s cognitive state of being adequately or
inadequately rewarded in a buying situation for the sacrifice he has
undergone’. From the marketing aspect, Andreasen (1977) stated:
“Business, government, and other nonprofit organizations need
measures of how well products and services (performance) are meeting client
needs and wants so that they can enhance their own and/or society’s wellbeing. The extent to which these needs and wants are met has come to be
called consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction…”
Though being different, these definitions implicitly contain four
common elements (Day 1975):
1- The performance of the product or service as perceived by the
consumer

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2- The expectations of performance which the consumer has
3- The perceived costs or “sacrifices” involved in making the purchase
and using the product/service.
4- The time at which the satisfaction with the product/service is
assessed.
Triandis (1971), summarizing central ideas used by other attitude
theorists, defined attitude as “an idea charged with emotion which
predisposes a class of actions to a particular class of social situations”. His
definition suggests the three principle components of attitudes:
1- The cognitive component is the IDEA which a person, as an
evaluator, perceives in a given context.

Source: Tse (1980)

Figure 1.1: Loyalty in different situation of satisfaction and attitude

Cell 1 represents the situation where the consumer likes the product or
service and is satisfied with it. In this situation, the consumer has stable
loyalty and will continue using the product/service. Cell 2 presents the
situation where the consumer likes the product/service but is dissatisfied with
it. This situation may be caused by a sudden decline in the performance of the
product/service. Lacking confidence in the product/service, the consumer has
unstable loyalty and will continue purchasing the product/service only when
there is a guarantee of performance or quality. Cell 3 represents the situation
where the consumer does not like the product, but is still satisfied with it only
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because it meets certain basic demands, for example low price. In this
situation, the consumer has equitable loyalty, no alternative available and is
receptive towards advertisements and sales promotions.
Cell 4 represents the situation where the consumer neither likes the
product/service nor is satisfied with it. This situation is probably caused by
market imperfections such as lack of competition, and time pressure. In this
situation, the consumer has to continue using the product until market
imperfections are relaxed. Therefore, by studying attitude alone, we cannot
account for more detailed differences in the consumer’s loyalty towards
brands.
Consumer’s

satisfaction/dissatisfaction


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the

measurement

problems.

Up

to

now,

consumer’s

satisfaction/dissatisfaction has been interpreted in the following ways (see
Figure 1.2).

1.2.1. Psychological interpretation
A large amount of research has been done by consumer psychologists
and marketing researchers, applying a variety of psychological theories to
explain product evaluation, and to assess satisfaction in the consumer
decision-making context. Theories which have received a considerable
amount of attention in consumer’s satisfaction literature are:
1- Cognitive dissonance
2- Contrast



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Figure 1.2: Interpretations of consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction

Contrast theory The contrast theory of consumer’s satisfaction predicts
consumer reaction in just the opposite way. Instead of reducing dissonance,
the consumer will magnify the difference between expectation and the
performance of the product/service. If the product’s performance exceeds
expectation, he will be highly satisfied, but if the product’s performance falls
below expectation, he will be highly dissatisfied (Day 1977). This implies
that the consumer is very sensitive to unmatched expectations and may react
in an exaggerated way.
Assimilation-contrast theory This theory was introduced by Anderson
(1973) in the context of post-exposure product performance, based on Sherif
and Hovland’s (1961) discussion of assimilation and contrast effect, in
studies of communication effects on attitude change. It has been used to
explain consumer’s satisfaction by applying one or both of the two theories
discussed above. In the case of a moderate level of disconfirmation of
expectation and performance, the consumer will behave according to the
theory of cognitive dissonance. That is, the consumer will try to reduce the
discrepancy by adjusting his perception. In the case of a high level of
disconfirmation which is beyond some “latitude of acceptance”, the

the affective tone of the event. Threatening events, such as examinations,
elicit processes that provoke anxiety. Relaxing events, such as meditation,
evoke processes that foster composure. Opponent processes, which evoke
emotions that counter these primary processes. Threatening events elicit
opponent processes that promote composure. Relaxing events evoke
opponent processes that provoke anxiety, and so forth.

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Several properties differentiate primary and opponent processes. First, most
emotional events will elicit primary processes. Only the more intense events
will elicit opponent processes. Specifically, when the intensity or magnitude
of the primary processes exceeds some threshold, opponent processes are
evoked. Second, the primary process is elicited rapidly but also declines
quickly. The opponent process, in contrast, is evoked more slowly but also
wanes gradually. As a consequence, in response to aversive events,
individuals often experience unpleasant emotions initially that gradually
decline. Indeed, at some point in the trajectory, the opponent processes often
overrides the primary process, and a pleasant emotion is experienced--called
an overshoot effect. Positive events can elicit the converse trajectory of
emotions. Third, frequent exposure to a specific event, such as examinations

In explaining consumer’s satisfaction, a consumer makes his judgment
in a buying decision-making process, by weighing the costs (inputs) and
benefits (outcomes) of the product selected, relative to those rejected. If the
outcomes of this comparison are constant, then the consumer will be
satisfied. Otherwise, the consumer will attempt to achieve equilibrium by
adjusting the perceived costs and benefits of the product selected (Adler and
Robinson 1980). Hence, the costs and benefits of the product selected can be
viewed as performance, while those of the product rejected as expectation.
The outcome of the comparison can be treated as the confirmation or
disconfirmation between expectation and performance.
Huppertz (1979), studying satisfaction associated with shopping,
developed different measures of the inputs and outcomes of consumer and
seller from shopping events. He first gave some examples of the events which
measure outcomes and inputs. Consumer input should be the price paid, or

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the distance to the store. Consumer outcome could be the time span that the
product lasts, or the amount of help given by advertising. The seller input
could be the amount spent on advertising or the availability of sales persons
to serve the consumer; and the seller outcome could be the profit made, or the

ratios to make the concept of equity or inequity (satisfaction or
dissatisfaction) more operationalized. This was indeed a contribution to the
application of equity theory to both the conceptualization and the
measurement of consumer’s satisfaction; however, what is needed is the
development of better measures of inputs and outcomes for specific
situations.

1.2.2. Economic interpretations
Consumer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction can also be conceptualized in
terms of economic theory. Two branches of economic theory are discussed
here.
Consumer surplus In economic theory, a rational consumer will
allocate his scarce resources in such a way that the ratio of marginal utilities
to the prices of the products will be equal. Hence, the total utility which he
derives from all products is at its maximum. If there are any changes in the
prices of the products, his resources have to be reallocated in order to reach a
new equilibrium. Furthermore, in a given market under perfect competition,
the market price is determined by the interaction of consumers and firms in
such a way that, when at equilibrium, the price required by the firm is exactly

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the price the consumer wishes to pay for a given quantity. Therefore, all
consumers in a given market are assumed to be prepared to pay the same
market price. However, there is a gap between total utility and the total
amount of money the consumer pays to obtain the products. This gap is in the
nature of a surplus to the consumer. The reason why this consumer surplus
occurs is simply the fact that market price is determined by marginal rather
than total utility. Each unit of a product is bought at the same price as the last

noting. First, consumers’ surplus is measured at an aggregated level rather
than an individual level. Since the price of the product is determined by the
market and not by and individual consumer himself, the measurement of
consumer surplus is difficult. Second, the assumption that the market is in
perfect competition is not always true. Third, the satisfaction derived from
consumer surplus does not represent the consumers’ total experience in
purchasing/consumption of the product/service (Pfaff 1977). It is a result of a
consumer’s reaction to the price and quantity of a product. It ignores many
aspects of the product such as quality, packaging, convenience, taste, etc.
Furthermore, according to the concept of consumer surplus, it seems
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impossible to arrive at a definition for satisfaction as the discrepancy between
the market price and the consumer’s hypothetical price. Using this definition,
it would be very difficult to conclude which consumer is more satisfied with
the product, when consumers have the same hypothetical price, and those
who do not buy are dissatisfied with the product.
Utility theory A variety of theories of utility have been developed
primarily in different disciplines, such as economics, psychology, statistics
and management science. Since economics is the father of utility theory
(Fishburn 1968: 340), this section is deliberately placed under the umbrella of
the economic theory interpretation of consumer’s satisfaction. This section
will only give an account of some of the basic notions in utility theory in
order to explain how utility of products/services can reflect consumer’s
satisfaction.
On the practical level, utility theory is concerned with how the
consumer chooses and makes his decision according to his preferences and
judgments of value (Fishburn 1968). The basic ingredient of utility theory is
an individual’s preference//indifference relations applied to a set of